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Best American Sports Writing 2011: The Best American Series (2011)

by Jane Leavy(Favorite Author)

3.75 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1299884466 (ISBN13: 9781299884465)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Mariner Books

review 1: Anytime you read a collection of writing as take place in the variety of Best American writings each year you are going to find stories that you love and some that you are not so enamored of. In reading this 2011 collection edited by Jane Leavy I found some stories that were simply fantastic. These include Gentling Cheatgrass, a story about the wild mustang program that was featured in the always underrated Texas Monthly. Also included from Sports Illustrated's S.L. Price is Pride of the Nation, an article about lacrosse and it's importance to American Indian culture. Mark Pearson's story The Short History of an Ear featured in Sport Literate was unique and interesting and I will be reading more from them. Bill Plaschke's short article from The LA Times titled A Gift That ... moreOpens Him Up shines a light into his beginnings as a writer. Howard Bryant's article from Espn about Dusty Baker is especially timely in the wake of his recent firing in Cincinnati and an SI story about University of California women's crew coxswain Jill Costello who simultaneously led her team while fighting what would be terminal cancer is nothing short of inspiring. An article from GQ about the troubles of Indianapolis Colts receiver Marvin Harrison is enlightening if disturbing. This leaves us with my favorite article by probably on of the greatest, and certainly most underrated writers, of the last forty years The New Yorker's John McPhee. His short story The Patch combines a lesson about pickerel fishing with the authors saying good bye to his father as he fades from the effects of a debilitating stroke. Simply put few write better about anything than McPhee. There are several articles I had little use for but any collection of stories as strong as those above is well worth your time. Some of these are amazingly well written.
review 2: I get this anthology every year and enjoy reading some of the best work that has skipped past me over the past year. That said, there was a section in the middle of the book where I simply flipped past 3 or 4 stories in a row. Some of the outdoorsy stuff is fantastic and some of it seems to be a stretch. As a sports writer myself, I found Bill Plaschke's "A gift that opens him up" to be inspiring and wonderful...all condensed into a quick 5-minute read. Others among my favorites...Michael Farber's "Eight Seconds"Jason Fagone's "The Dirtiest Player"Tom Friend's "The Old College Try"Howard Bryant's "Dusty Baker a Symbol of Perseverance"Chris Ballard's "The Courage of Jill Costello"On the bad list...I have no idea who Yoni Brenner's "Trick Plays" was included in the Best of...it seemed like a failed attempt at something clever that you would find in a college paper somewhere — just idiotic. less

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